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Come in a fraction of a second too late, the joke is ruined. A fraction of a second early, the audience are unable to keep up. Heart-Ships are a Leeds band, one steeped in the mythology of the North. The band make great, hulking epics of songs, the sort of thing which rebound around abandoned moors or drift across post-Industrial landscapes.

For the past few years, though, those same songs have been heard by very few people outfit the band. Working, honing, refining their sound, Heart-Ships holed up with Tim Hampton in his Sheffield studio to finally pull the trigger.

The results are imposing. ‘EP 1’ is a far more enticing, far more suggestive than it’s all too concise title would have you believe. Take ‘Pinhole Of Light’. Sonically speaking, it’s reminiscent of Interpol or The National, with the lyrics being delivered in the sort of baritone only a lifetime of afterhours drinking, sullen regrets and heartbreak can achieve.

Brooding, introverted songwriting delivered in a soaring, life affirming – it’s simply time for Heart-Ships.